It's summertime, which means outdoor play, hiking, gardening — and tick bites. The creepy crawlies tend to latch on during the summer months and these arachnids are ubiquitous throughout the U.S. People can take steps to avoid the nasty critters, beyond the old-standby advice to cover up and avoid tall grass, experts say. Here are hygiene tips to prevent these ticks:
1. Cover up
Covering up can prevent ticks from latching on, said Holly Donohoe, a researcher at the University of Florida who studies the health risks of travel and sports.
"Tucking pants into socks is a totally nerdy-looking thing, but in this case it can save you the suffering from a tick-borne disease later on," Donohoe said.
Of course, that advice may be hard to follow during peak tick season, Stafford said.
"In the summer months nobody is going to do that, it's too hot. I don't. I'll be protected from ticks but keel over from heat stroke," he said. Other prevention measures may be more useful when the mercury rises.
2. Lighten up
The clothes people wear should also be light, said Kathryn Berger, a disease ecologist at the University of Calgary in Canada.
"Nymphal ticks are about the size of a poppy seed, so if you wear lighter-colored clothing like light socks, lighter-colored pants, you're going to have an easier time identifying them."
3. Quick dry clothing
Because ticks are so vulnerable to drying out, the hitchhiking parasites can be killed by giving clothing a quick whirl in the dryer on high heat for five minutes, Mather said.
Ticks can survive the wash, and people who have to both wash and dry their clothes may just toss their clothing into a pile for later. It's better to do a quick dry cycle immediately than to let the tick linger, he said.
4. Shower and inspect
After high-risk activities, people should immediately take their clothes off and do a tick inspection and shower. People who are in the habit of showering immediately after outdoor activities are less likely to get Lyme disease, perhaps because they can catch any biting ticks before they've transmitted the disease, Stafford said.
After biting, ticks can take several hours to transmit Lyme disease, said Laura Kramer, the director of the Arbovirus Laboratory at the New York State Department of Health's Wadsworth Center.
A quick and simple tip would be wearing a natural tick repellent bracelet such as the Repeller Bug Band.The Repeller Bug Band is a natural insect repellent bug bracelet that is DEET-free and safe for kids. It contains an all-natural,non-spray & deet-free repellent formula. This formula offers the best balanced proportion of 11 natural, organic essential oils and repels mosquitoes and fleas, gnats, ticks, ants and more! With this product, you get real protection without the use of dangerous sprays or powders!
Saturday, September 26, 2015
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Bee Sting Tips
Having a bee sting is definitely no fun. If a stinger is left embedded in the body, then remove it as soon as possible. This should be the first step. Use whatever tools are immediately available to dig it out. You could use a knife, credit card, pliers, tweezers, or a needle. Sterilize the tool if possible, but do not waste time. For maximum absorption, clean the area with soap and water before applying remedies, otherwise the oils on the skin will repel them.
Wasp and Hornet Stings
Vinegar - Wasp and hornet venom are powerful alkalines. Use an acid such as vinegar to neutralize them. It can be applied via a piece of cloth or bandaging. Make sure to keep the stings soaked for at least 15 minutes. Some vinegar will absorb through the skin, and it should greatly help eliminate the discomfort.
Bee and Yellow Jacket Stings
Baking Soda - In the case of bee stings, baking soda will help to neutralize the acidic venom. Make a paste by combining baking soda with water. Leave this paste on the sting site for at least 15 minutes. Some of the dissolved baking soda will leach through the skin to neutralize the venom somewhat. After applying it, and cleaning the sting area of residue; a chamomile tincture may be repeatedly applied for any residual itching or swelling.
Emergency Allergic Reactions
If there is difficulty breathing, extreme dizziness, or nausea after a sting, then there is a high probability that it triggered a dangerous allergic reaction. In these cases, we recommend quickly consuming a large (i.e. quadruple) dose of chamomile. Chamomile is related to ragweed, so those with ragweed allergies should skip this step. A large amount of echinacea is also strongly recommended, if available. If pulse irregularities are experienced, then try to take some taurine, even if that means just holding the powder in the mouth. Then immediately get to the nearest hospital. The allergic reaction may stop by the time you arrive at the hospital, but you should definitely make the trip in case it does not. In these unfortunate latter cases, a steroid injection may be required to save your life.
Misinformation About Sting Remedies
Treating most bee, wasp, and hornet stings is easy, but that may be difficult to believe if you have spent any time researching this topic on the Internet. Researching natural treatments for bee, hornet, and wasp stings is revealing about how much misinformation there is on the Internet. Some of it is laughable.
To prevent bee stings, a good natural repellent product to use is the Repeller Bug Band. The Repeller Bug Band is a natural insect repellent bug bracelet that is DEET-free and safe for kids. It contains an all-natural,non-spray & deet-free repellent formula. This formula offers the best balanced proportion of 11 natural, organic essential oils and repels mosquitoes and fleas, gnats, ticks, ants and more! With this product, you get real protection without the use of dangerous sprays or powders!
Monday, September 21, 2015
Natural Repellent: Nodding Onion
Nodding Onion (Allium cernuum Roth) is perennial, onion-smelling plant. Its stem ranges10-50 cm tall, round or flattened, curved down near the top, sometimes 2 or more successively produced from a single bulb. Bulbs are 1-2 cm thick, usually in clusters, with membranous outer layers with parallel fibres. Its leavers are basal with several per bulb, plane or concave-convex in cross section, 1-6 mm broad, shorter than the flower stem, entire or small-toothed on the edges, green during flowering, persistent at maturity.
Its flowers are several in a nodding umbel, the surrounding, membranous bract soon dropped. Stalks slender, 2-3 times the flower length, in fruit becoming stouter, elongating, and bending upward. Tepals 4-6 mm long, elliptic-ovate, blunt, entire or nearly so, pink or white, withering in fruit, the midribs not thickened. Stamens projecting, anthers oblong. Ovary crested with 6 distinct, flattened processes, the style thread-like, projecting, stigma round, entire. Its flowering time is around June-July. Its fruits are capsules, 3-lobed, with 6 crests at tip, about 4 mm long. Seeds are dull black, with honey-comb pattern. It is widely distributed in moist to dry, open sites, plains to montane zone.
Edible Uses:
Nodding onion is edible, and its bulbs were widely eaten by native peoples and European settlers, either raw, cooked or dried for winter. Being strongly flavored, it is mainly used as a flavoring. Cooking removes the strong smell and flavor, converting the sugar inulin to the more digestible fructose, and the bulbs become very sweet. The leaves are edible, raw or cooked. They have a delicious, strong-onion flavor, and are said to be very nice in salads. The flowers can be eaten raw or cooked. They have a delicious strong onion flavor, somewhat stronger than the leaves especially if the seeds are starting to set. They make a very decorative and tasty addition to the salad bowl.
Medicinal Uses:
Nodding Onion was used medicinally by the Cherokee, Isleta, Kwakiutl, Makah, and Quinault Indians. The juice of the plant was given to children for hives and croup, as well as for colds and sore throat. A poultice of chewed plant parts was applied to the chest for pleurisy pains, croup, and otherwise applied externally for infections, sores and swellings. A poultice of warm onions was applied externally to throat for sore throat as well.
Other Uses:
The juice of the plant has been used as a moth and mosquito repellent. The whole plant is said to repel insects and moles. It is definitely a mosquito repellent natural. The juice can be applied to exposed skin in order to repel mosquitos and other biting insects. It can be a good mosquito repellent for home.
Its flowers are several in a nodding umbel, the surrounding, membranous bract soon dropped. Stalks slender, 2-3 times the flower length, in fruit becoming stouter, elongating, and bending upward. Tepals 4-6 mm long, elliptic-ovate, blunt, entire or nearly so, pink or white, withering in fruit, the midribs not thickened. Stamens projecting, anthers oblong. Ovary crested with 6 distinct, flattened processes, the style thread-like, projecting, stigma round, entire. Its flowering time is around June-July. Its fruits are capsules, 3-lobed, with 6 crests at tip, about 4 mm long. Seeds are dull black, with honey-comb pattern. It is widely distributed in moist to dry, open sites, plains to montane zone.
Edible Uses:
Nodding onion is edible, and its bulbs were widely eaten by native peoples and European settlers, either raw, cooked or dried for winter. Being strongly flavored, it is mainly used as a flavoring. Cooking removes the strong smell and flavor, converting the sugar inulin to the more digestible fructose, and the bulbs become very sweet. The leaves are edible, raw or cooked. They have a delicious, strong-onion flavor, and are said to be very nice in salads. The flowers can be eaten raw or cooked. They have a delicious strong onion flavor, somewhat stronger than the leaves especially if the seeds are starting to set. They make a very decorative and tasty addition to the salad bowl.
Medicinal Uses:
Nodding Onion was used medicinally by the Cherokee, Isleta, Kwakiutl, Makah, and Quinault Indians. The juice of the plant was given to children for hives and croup, as well as for colds and sore throat. A poultice of chewed plant parts was applied to the chest for pleurisy pains, croup, and otherwise applied externally for infections, sores and swellings. A poultice of warm onions was applied externally to throat for sore throat as well.
Other Uses:
The juice of the plant has been used as a moth and mosquito repellent. The whole plant is said to repel insects and moles. It is definitely a mosquito repellent natural. The juice can be applied to exposed skin in order to repel mosquitos and other biting insects. It can be a good mosquito repellent for home.
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